NHPC announced that it entered a power sale agreement (PSA) with Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Ltd. (CSPDCL) for the supply of 400 MW of solar power.
The tariff decided under this agreement is Rs. 2.55/kWh for 25 years. NHPC would also earn a trading margin at Rs. 0.07/kWh during the contract period.
This capacity is part of NHPC’s 2 GW Interstate Transmission System (ISTS) solar projects auctioned in April 2020. SoftBank, Axis Energy Ventures India Private Limited, O2 Power, EDEN Renewables, and Avaada Energy were the winners in this auction. Softbank, Axis Energy, O2 Power, and EDEN quoted the lowest tariff of Rs. 2.55/kWh in the auction. They were awarded 600 MW, 400 MW, 380 MW, and 300 MW, respectively. Avaada Energy, who had placed bids for 600 MW, was awarded 320 MW at a tariff of Rs. 2.56/kWh.
NHPC had initially floated this tender in September 2019 with a ceiling tariff of Rs. 2.95/kWh. But later, in October 2019, the tariff cap was revised to Rs. 2.65/kWh. In January 2020, it again revised the minimum tariff payable to Rs. 2.78/kWh.
The tender received a huge response from developers and was oversubscribed. NHPC received bids from nine developers for a total of 3.78 GW against the 2 GW capacity floated.
According to NHPC’s statement, the public sector undertaking has so far signed the PSAs for the supply of 1.7 GW of solar power out of the total 2 GW capacity floated.
